As the start of the school year is fast approaching, the parents of students will see the bill for the canteen increase. But this increase will not be a guarantee of quality or quantity of meals.
On September 1st, thousands of children will return to school across France. But while parents have already noticed an increase in the price of school supplies, they will also have, for some, a bad surprise with regard to the canteen, since the price of it will increase. Indeed, the National Union of collective catering has asked for an increase about 7% to town halls to allow collective catering companies, which manage 40% of school canteens as part of a public service delegation, to cope with inflation. “We are seeing an increase of around 10% in the prices of the raw food material, that is to say vegetables and meat, with which the 100,000 cantiniers in France make meals for children every day”clarified on France info Laure Desclèves, spokesperson for the SNRC.
An increase that could not be without consequences for parents. If, for school canteens, the town hall is responsible for providing a balanced meal to students at noon, each could study the question on a case-by-case basis. Because if rising costs weighs above all on the municipalitiesthey are the ones who can then decide to whether or not to pass it on to the parents of students. As near Lyon, where the parents of students at the L’Arbresle school will pay, depending on their income, an additional 20 to 50 centimes per meal, while in Aix-en-Provence, the mayor refused to weigh this increase on the family budget. Just like the city of Ajaccio, which is trying “to find the right balance between meals at reasonable prices and meeting the nutritional needs of children”said Marie Ottavy Sarrola, deputy mayor in charge of school affairs, to France Bleu.
What alternatives to reduce the bill?
Because if some fear that the increase will weigh on the household budget, others are worried about the quality of the menus if some savings were to be made for reduce prices as much as possible meals, currently estimated “between nine and ten euros”. Thus, rather than increasing prices, some municipalities could edit recipessuch as removing a yoghurt or a piece of cheese, reducing portion weight or by replacing animal proteins with vegetable ones… But be careful, this must be done “without compromising on nutritional quality” applied in school canteens, say the professionals. And to reduce costs, it is better to avoid food waste as well. While about 10% of the meals produced every day are thrown away, parents are asked to notify them in advance of their children’s absence from school.